WEST HAVEN, Conn. — A 10-hour, two-day bus ride took its toll on Slippery Rock.

Then the SRU football team took its toll on New Haven.

After punting on its first six possessions, The Rock rallied for a four-point halftime lead and dominated the second half in a season-opening 39-13 victory Saturday at DellaCamera Stadium.

“We definitely started slow and I think traveling for two days had an affect there,” SRU coach George Mihalik admitted. “But once we settled in, we played some good football.

“All three phases — offense, defense and special teams — contributed to this win.”

Dante Nania, the Youngstown State transfer making his first SRU start at quarterback, completed 32 of 54 passes for 269 yards. All three of his touchdown passes came in the second half, two of those to Taishan Tucker.

“We had a few drops in there or his numbers would have been even better,” Mihalik said. “Our offensive line did a good job of giving our quarterback time to throw.

“We threw to eight different receivers today. Everyone has to run his route and be ready because you never know when the ball is coming your way.”

Shamar Greene led SRU's rushing attack with 116 yards and a touchdown. Julilan Durden scored on a 2-yard run with 3:15 left in the first half to give The Rock the lead for good at 14-10.

After a Mike Wainauskis field goal early in the third quarter, SRU's Kris Williams recovered a fumbled punt at the New Haven 20. Nania threw an 8-yard scoring pass to Tucker and The Rock began pulling away.

“Every year, in the first couple of games, a special teams unit makes a big play that impacts the game for one of the teams,” Mihalik said. “That was a big one for us.”

Middle linebacker Teven Williams — like Nania, a Youngstown State transfer — paced SRU with 12 tackles. Avery Anderson had 10 tackles and Butler graduate Bob Vernick had eight.

The Rock defense did not have a quarterback sack. Derrick Fulmore intercepted a pass for SRU.

Temperatures were in the 80's and “that blue turf holds in the heat,” Mihalik said. “Our guys did a good job of handling that.

“This is a nice opening win against a New Haven team that's going to win a lot of games this year.”

SRU's home opener is at 7 p.m. Saturday against East Stroudsburg. The game will be the 300th of Mihalik's head coaching career.

East Stroudsburg dropped a 41-40 decision to LIU Post in its season opener. Saturday's game will be the Division II Showcase Game of the Week and will be televised live on the American Sports Network.

SRU 39, New Haven 13

Slippery Rock 0 14 10 15 — 39

New Haven 3 7 3 0 — 13

SRU NH

28 First Downs 15

46-177 Rushes-Yards 42-195

269 Passing Yards 219

32-54-2 Comp.-Att.-Int 12-30-1

446 Total Yards 414

0-0 Fumbles-Lost 3-1

8-79 Penalty Yards 8-68

First Quarter

NH — Danny Stock 25 field goal, 2:58

Second Quarter

SRU — Shamar Greene 1 run (Mike Wainauskis kick), 9:15

NH — Andre Anderson 78 pass from Shazzon Mumphrey (Stock kick), 7:21

SRU — Julian Durden 2 run (Wainauskis kick), 3:15

Third Quarter

SRU — Wainauskis 23 field goal, 10:21

SRU — Taishan Tucker 8 pass from Dante Nania (Wainauskis kick), 6:58

NH — Stock 33 field goal, 4:00

Fourth Quarter

SRU — Tucker 2 pass from Nania (Wainauskis kick), 14:57

SRU — New Haven called for holding in end zone for safety, 11:54

SRU — Cornelius Raye 12 pass from Nania (kick failed), 2:10

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SRU, Shamar Greene 22-116, Dante Nania 8-37, Julian Durden 6-21, Cornelius Raye 1-3, Isiah Neely 8-2, Dominic Dingle 1-(-2). New Haven. Andre Anderson 9-80, Shazzon Mumphrey 7-52, Justen Wilson 5-26, Trevor Officer 11-13, Ajee Patterson 5-12, Lemar Thomas 5-12.

Passing: SRU, Dante Nania 32-54-269-2. New Haven, Shazzon Mumphrey 6-14-136-1, Ajee Patterson 6-16-83-0.

Receiving: SRU, Drew Scales 4-69, Marcus Carter 5-48, Leroy McClain 6-43, Cornelius Raye 4-38, Taishan Tucker 5-31, Jaimire Dutrieuille 5-26, Shamar Greene 3-14. New Haven, Andre Anderson 1-78, Henry Adegunle 4-68, DeeJay White 3-37, Ty Headen 1-21, Devin Martin 1-7, Rishawn Harris 1-5, Trevor Officer 1-3.